Candriam S.C.A. Acquires 744 Shares of Booz Allen Hamilton Holding Co. (NYSE:BAH)

Candriam S.C.A. lifted its holdings in Booz Allen Hamilton Holding Co. (NYSE:BAH) by 7.5% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 10,608 shares of the business services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 744 shares during the quarter. Candriam S.C.A.’s holdings in Booz Allen Hamilton were worth $1,365,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new stake in Booz Allen Hamilton in the fourth quarter worth $173,055,000. Arizona State Retirement System increased its holdings in shares of Booz Allen Hamilton by 1.2% in the fourth quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 37,523 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $4,829,000 after buying an additional 435 shares during the period. Verdence Capital Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Booz Allen Hamilton by 0.5% in the 4th quarter. Verdence Capital Advisors LLC now owns 16,579 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $2,134,000 after acquiring an additional 90 shares during the last quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC purchased a new stake in Booz Allen Hamilton during the 4th quarter valued at about $4,683,000. Finally, M&T Bank Corp grew its position in Booz Allen Hamilton by 0.9% during the 4th quarter. M&T Bank Corp now owns 10,171 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,309,000 after acquiring an additional 88 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 91.82% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have weighed in on BAH. StockNews.com downgraded Booz Allen Hamilton from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 5th. UBS Group initiated coverage on shares of Booz Allen Hamilton in a report on Monday, December 2nd. They set a “neutral” rating and a $159.00 price target for the company. Cantor Fitzgerald raised shares of Booz Allen Hamilton to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 25th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price objective on shares of Booz Allen Hamilton from $142.00 to $140.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Finally, Barclays raised Booz Allen Hamilton from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and set a $140.00 target price on the stock in a research note on Monday, January 6th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating, five have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $158.27.

Booz Allen Hamilton Stock Performance

Shares of BAH opened at $116.68 on Monday. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $125.17 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $145.08. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.72, a current ratio of 1.57 and a quick ratio of 1.57. The firm has a market capitalization of $14.78 billion, a PE ratio of 17.39, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.25 and a beta of 0.56. Booz Allen Hamilton Holding Co. has a one year low of $101.82 and a one year high of $190.59.

Booz Allen Hamilton (NYSE:BAH) last released its earnings results on Friday, January 31st. The business services provider reported $1.55 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.48 by $0.07. Booz Allen Hamilton had a return on equity of 68.97% and a net margin of 7.39%. On average, analysts anticipate that Booz Allen Hamilton Holding Co. will post 6.44 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Booz Allen Hamilton Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 4th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 14th were given a $0.55 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 14th. This is an increase from Booz Allen Hamilton’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.51. This represents a $2.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.89%. Booz Allen Hamilton’s dividend payout ratio is currently 32.79%.

About Booz Allen Hamilton

Booz Allen Hamilton Holding Corporation provides management and technology consulting, analytics, engineering, digital solutions, mission operations, and cyber services to governments, corporations, and not-for-profit organizations in the United States and internationally. It focuses on artificial intelligence services comprising of machine learning, predictive modeling, automation and decision analytics, and quantum computing.